Davao City government to unveil memorial for blast victims

Photo shows the three suspects reportedly behind the Sept. 2 blast in Davao City which claimed the lives of 15 persons and resulted in the wounding of 70 others. (From left to right) They are Wendel Apostol Facturan; Musali Mustapha and TJ Tagadaya Macabalang. The three suspects, who are allegedly members of the Maute Group, were arrested on Oct. 4 in a mobile checkpoint by joint elements of the Philippine Army (PA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) in Cotabato City. The three suspects were presented to media on Friday (Oct. 7, 2016) during the press conference at General Headquarters Conference Room, Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. (Photo: Joey Razon/PNA)

DAVAO CITY – A memorial for the victims of the Sept. 2 explosion that ripped through the night market along Roxas Ave. here will be unveiled at the blast site Tuesday.

This was announced by Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas, who said that the city also marks the 40th day after the explosion that left 15 persons dead and 69 others wounded. The unveiling will gather and reunite the survivors and the families of those who were killed in the blast.

Tupas said the unveiling will start with a mass at 4 p.m., with Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio leading the people joining the rites.

The mayor said the memorial will honor the victims and will be a place for prayer, peace and remembrance.

“We commit to forever remember the victims of the bombing on Sept. 2,” said Duterte-Carpio. “And we also commit to do everything possible to prevent or stop acts of terrorism from happening again.”

The unveiling of the memorial also comes at a time when police authorities start investigating the blast suspects, who were arrested by the military in Cotabato City last Friday.

The three are alleged members of the Maute terrorist group based in Lanao del Sur province, and are reportedly aligned with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Military authorities seized from them a machine gun, a .45-caliber pistol, assorted bomb-making components, cellular phones and a video clip of the actual bomb attack, which will allegedly be turned into a propaganda video to get support from the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) terrorists in the Middle East.

The mayor earlier commended the authorities for the arrest of the three suspects but said “their arrest must lead to the dismantling of the terror group.”

“The arrest of the suspected perpetrator of the Sept. 2 bombing in Davao City is a welcome development to the operations of our law enforcers for their immediate capture,” she said in a statement released to the members of the media.

While such development is commendable, Duterte-Carpio vowed to expeditiously give justice to the 15 victims who died and the 69 others who were wounded in the blast.

She however emphasized the importance of the arrest in leading to the dismantling of terror groups or result in the failure of more senseless acts of violence and extremism.

“We also need to remember that this does not end our desire to give justice to the victims and those whose lives were forever changed by that horrendous act of terrorism on the night of Sept. 2 in our beloved city,” the mayor added.

She asked the people to be vigilant and “show the world that we do not surrender to fear nor do we allow terrorism to cripple our humanity and undermine our values.”